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Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett dies
MP3.com ^ | July 11, 2006 | Jim Welte

Posted on 07/16/2006 5:51:32 PM PDT by gawatchman

Syd Barrett, a founding member of Pink Floyd who wrote the bulk of the legendary UK rock band's early material, died Friday. He was 60.

The exact cause of death is unknown, although Barrett was known to suffer from diabetes and had battled various forms of mental illness for years, with many fans speculating that his years of heavy psychedelic drug use had sent him over the edge. Barrett had lived a reclusive life since the 1970s, living at his parents' home in Cambridge.

Word of Barrett's death spread today, and the band--David Gilmour, Nick Mason, Roger Waters, and Richard Wright--released a statement: "The band [members] are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death. Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire."

Barrett's brother Alan also issued a statement today, saying: "He died peacefully at home. There will be a private family funeral in the next few days."

Barrett was the ultimate mystery in a band whose collective mystique was bolstered over the years by decades of infighting, mostly between Waters and Gilmour, who joined the band in 1968, shortly before Barrett left, as a second guitarist.

Artists like David Bowie and Pete Townshend cited Barrett as an influence. In a posting on his Web site today, Bowie wrote: "I can't tell you how sad I feel. Syd was a major inspiration for me. The few times I saw him perform in London at UFO and the Marquee clubs during the sixties will forever be etched in my mind. He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed."

(Excerpt) Read more at mp3.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: hesstilldeadalright; music; obituary; psychedelicdrugs; shineon; youcrazydiamond
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This happened over a week ago, but is news to me, and I felt it is worth posting. RIP Syd.
1 posted on 07/16/2006 5:51:34 PM PDT by gawatchman
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To: gawatchman
Great and brilliant guy......... he took more LSD than me. What a guy.

RIP

2 posted on 07/16/2006 5:55:30 PM PDT by beyond the sea (The truth exists even when it is ignored.)
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To: gawatchman

Arnold Layne had a strange.... hobby


3 posted on 07/16/2006 5:56:38 PM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: gawatchman

Syd......... "wish you were here".


4 posted on 07/16/2006 5:58:16 PM PDT by beyond the sea (The truth exists even when it is ignored.)
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To: gawatchman

news a bit stale, eh?


5 posted on 07/16/2006 6:00:04 PM PDT by xcamel (Press to Test, Release to Detonate)
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To: beyond the sea
One of my first albums that I stole from my sister


6 posted on 07/16/2006 6:00:19 PM PDT by al baby (Dick Trickle is not a medical condition)
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To: gawatchman

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=all;o=time;s=barrett


7 posted on 07/16/2006 6:00:41 PM PDT by Borges
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To: gawatchman

you might be interested in this link http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/search?m=any;o=score;s=syd%20barrett


8 posted on 07/16/2006 6:00:46 PM PDT by divine_moment_of_facts ("Liberals see what they believe... Conservatives believe what they see")
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To: gawatchman

Syd is "Learning to Fly". Clear sailing and fair winds Sid.


9 posted on 07/16/2006 6:02:22 PM PDT by Ben Mugged
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To: gawatchman

Even though Pink Floyd reached their greatest successes without Syd, you have to ask the question if without Syd in those early days if PF would have been in a position to be able to have their later success. Of course Syd's life provided fodder for many of Floyd's greatest songs, but more importantly, Syd was just so out there in the first place, and that is what got Floyd noticed.


10 posted on 07/16/2006 6:02:22 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: divine_moment_of_facts

Yes, I did not see where it had already been posted.


11 posted on 07/16/2006 6:03:08 PM PDT by gawatchman
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To: al baby

excellent--- 1973........ a very good year.


12 posted on 07/16/2006 6:03:56 PM PDT by beyond the sea (The truth exists even when it is ignored.)
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To: beyond the sea
I really respected his private life after the band. It shows that we're all special "somebodies"- even the most obscure and forgotten "nobodies".

Similarly, I don't think his anonymity was particularly sad, rather it was beautiful. People act like the man died just because he wasn't some Hollywood phony who did Rolling Stone interviews. He had a life, a nice quiet life for himself.

13 posted on 07/16/2006 6:04:36 PM PDT by SteveMcKing
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To: beyond the sea

I was 13 years old


14 posted on 07/16/2006 6:04:38 PM PDT by al baby (Dick Trickle is not a medical condition)
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To: SteveMcKing

Yes sir!


15 posted on 07/16/2006 6:05:36 PM PDT by beyond the sea (The truth exists even when it is ignored.)
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To: gawatchman
Barrett had material on "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", but I don't think he had anything on any of the other albums- from Saucerful of Secrets on. Which is too bad, PATGOD was pretty good.

PF did refer to him and dedicated many songs to him, but I don't recall that he had actual input.

I have "The Madcap Laughs" (1975) and found the music to be catatonicly dull and flat.

OTOH, Barrett was a big fan of kid's literature- "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" is Chapter 7 of The Wind in the Willows, sort of like Alice in Wonderland and E E Milne's influence on Jefferson Airplane.
16 posted on 07/16/2006 6:07:28 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: al baby
I was 26 and had graduated from college, taken some time in the Army Security Agency....... and had come home then to do "a little experimenting" the next couple of years.

Good days.

;-)

17 posted on 07/16/2006 6:07:50 PM PDT by beyond the sea (The truth exists even when it is ignored.)
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To: SpaceBar

He's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun"


18 posted on 07/16/2006 6:08:02 PM PDT by Hoosier-Daddy (It's a fight to the death with Democrats.)
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To: gawatchman
Happy to help my fellow conservative Floyd fans out there ;)
19 posted on 07/16/2006 6:09:16 PM PDT by divine_moment_of_facts ("Liberals see what they believe... Conservatives believe what they see")
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To: DBrow

Saucerful of Secrets was a great album, IMHO.


20 posted on 07/16/2006 6:09:54 PM PDT by Hoosier-Daddy (It's a fight to the death with Democrats.)
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